American Go E-Journal

During the week following the U.S. Go Congress, Takemiya Masaki 9p from the Nihon Ki-in and Chihiro Chujo 1p from the Kansai Ki-in each taught three times at the Seattle Go Center. Ms. Chujo was an enthusiastic go teacher, and an eager student of the English language. Her English vocabulary increased notably during her week-long visit. In his first lecture, Takemiya gave commentary on two of his games; one from the beginning of his career in 1969 and one with his friend and competitor Cho Chikun from 1988. Takemiya’s second lecture was for kyu players, and stressed that “those who play where they want lose more games but get stronger faster”. He admitted that sometimes there is only one move on the board, and showed an example of this situation, but he reassured the audience of 22 players that usually there are options to try out. Both Chujo and Takemiya played simultaneous games on Tuesday, Aug. 14, the busiest day of the week at the Go Center. Two of Takemiya’s games with strong players were recorded and broadcast on KGS, and then shown in the kitchen with a digital projector. At one point there was a roar from the kitchen when the internet connection was temporarily lost, puzzling the players in the main room who did not know what had happened. The games are posted in the news section of the Go Center website, along with the two games Mr. Takemiya presented in his lecture.

There was also time for sight-seeing, and for good seafood dinners. Miss Chujo went for a canoe ride, while Mr. Takemiya had a fine round of golf, with three birdies, and also went tango dancing after one of his lectures. Top photo: Takemiya Masaki; bottom: Chihiro Chujo. Report/photos by Brian Allen